The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in important areas like healthcare, education, and finance cannot be understated. New stories emerge daily about breakthroughs using AI that have the potential to save and transform lives. While advancements in critical fields are certainly worth applauding and highlighting, the impact of AI on our pastimes also deserves some praise. With the Olympics behind us and the football season ahead, here are just a few ways that AI is helping spectators and athletes alike enjoy the game.

AI is providing in depth performance analytics and data that helps competitors improve and fans better understand the events they are watching. The Olympic Games boasted a multitude of innovations, from AI based motion tracking to automatic highlight generation, that compiled important moments into reels. Real time breakdowns of biomechanics, movement, pace, and race position created the most in depth Games experience to date. This high-tech approach to viewing the games allowed audiences around the world to better appreciate the feats of athletic excellence and bring Paris into their living rooms. AI made its way into the Olympic Village as well and athletes were able to navigate the Games, despite language barriers, thanks to a chat service that could answer their questions about the extensive regulations and athlete protocols.

AI goes beyond the spectacle of sports to improve the events themselves. Contact sports are starting to incorporate the powerful technology into their injury prevention practices. AI can use biometric data to identify injuries before they happen, and the National Football League has begun to collect information through sensors in gear like helmets and shoulder pads. In our own state, Louisiana State University athletics is prioritizing player safety through AI stethoscopes, and is the first college program to introduce this medical technology. AI is helping to make a notoriously dangerous sport more sustainable and everyone—from the fans to the players—stand to benefit.

Another way AI is making the fan experience better is by creating a more seamless ticket purchasing process. The technology is able to analyze seating demand, preferences, and pricing to ensure that customers get a “personalized experience from the minute they purchase a ticket.” Teams in the NBA are customizing the event experience by harnessing data. For example, the Orlando Magic’s app offers AI-powered pre-game analysis, location-based suggestions, and alerts about future events and opportunities based on data driven predictions.

The complex and rapidly developing nature of AI can make it feel inaccessible and mysterious, but AI exists and is flourishing outside of laboratories and hospitals. The technology’s ability to breakdown data and offer insights is making our weekends better and the sports we love safer. When AI is approached with an appreciation for the ways that innovation can change our everyday lives, instead of a fear of the unknown, everything from the Olympic Games to a college football game improves.